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Did you come to this article thinking it’s about a new nightclub, popular restaurant or exciting attraction? Unfortunately, you’re not going to find it here. So what is this other type of Hawaii hotspot all about then?

What is the Hawaii Hotspot?

The Hawaii hotspot formed the Hawaiian Island Chain over the course of 70 million years. The Hawaiian Islands have sat over what geologists have theorized as a geologic hotspot. Here, magna from the earth’s core has been pushing upwards, creating volcanic underwater seamounts and islands, such as Hawaii, over millions of years. But this hotspot not only created the Hawaiian Islands Chain, but many other islands throughout the Pacific.

Areas along the Chain of Craters Road.

The Idea of J. Tuzo Wilson

Canadian geologist J. Tuzo Wilson first proposed this theory in 1963. In it, he stated that forces have been moving the geologic plate in a northwesterly direction over this spot. As the plate moves over this volcanic hotspot, it has created a chain of undersea seamounts and islands. It stretches over 3,600 miles from the Aleutian Trench off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to where Hawaii is today. Researchers call this chain of seamounts and islands the Hawaiian Ridge-Emperor Seamount Chain.

Originally, the Pacific plate was moving north while the hotspot created volcanic islands and seamounts along the way. Then 43 million years later, it took a westerly direction to where one can find the Hawaiian Island Chain today. So this is why the Hawaiian Ridge-Emperor Seamount Chain today has a wide “V” shaped configuration.

Over time, geologic forces have eroded away these islands and many now lay thousands of feet below the surface as seamounts. The tectonic plate moved from east to west. As a result, the seamounts, islets and islands that lay east are younger than those located west. This explains why the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, lying west of the 8 major Hawaiian Islands, are older. Over time, the relentless forces of erosion have reduced them into very small atolls or small rocky islets. Many are barely above the ocean surface. Further west, all that is left are underwater seamounts.

How it Affects the Future of Hawaii

The Hawaii hotspot foretells the future of the 8 major Hawaiian Islands. One day, millions of years into the future, they will ultimately suffer the same fate as the Northwestern Hawaii Islands. And they will slowly sink back into the Pacific Ocean. But at the same time, to the east of Hawaiian Islands, the Hawaii Hotspot is creating a new island.

Southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii, a new Hawaiian island, Loihi, has been forming over the last 400,000 years. It is still about 3,000 feet below the ocean. Scientists believe that this new Hawaiian island will rise above the surface sometime in the next 10,000 to 100,000 years.

Dubbed the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” Waimea Canyon is a beautiful gorge on the southwestern part of Kauai. It’s one of the island’s top attractions. As a result, the canyon is a must see for anyone visiting the Garden Isle.

The Canyon’s Dimensions

Waimea Canyon is over 10 miles long, over 1 mile at its widest and about 3,000 feet deep. As a basis of comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is over 277 miles long, 10 miles at its widest and over 1 mile deep. But this canyon still offers some of the same views of its larger cousin on the mainland, albeit on a smaller scale.

It is said that Mark Twain was the first who called Waimea Canyon the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. But others believed he never visited the canyon or even the island of Kauai. But whatever the case, many visitors would feel that calling it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific would be appropriate.

Forces Creating Waimea Canyon

As with most canyons, millions of years of constant erosive forces created Waimea Canyon. Kauai has one of the wettest spots on earth, with more than 400 inches of rain annually. This large volume of rainfalls feeds the Waimea River system which continues to shape the 5 million years old canyon.

But another factor that helped to create Waimea Canyon was volcanic activity. Two separate lava flows created the west and east sides of the canyon. The east side sank over a million years ago forming a depression which another separate lava flow partially filled. But the Waimea River and numerous smaller streams have continually eroded and shaped the canyon floor since then. Waimea in Hawaiian means red river and it’s an appropriate name. This because the river’s erosive forces have exposed the reddish hues of the canyon walls over the millennia.

One of the best ways to view majestic Waimea Canyon is to view it from the lookout area at Waimea Canyon State Park. Here, you can get the same type of views when the canyon was prominently featured in the 1963 movie Donovan’s Reef starring John Wayne. The park and the lookout are open to the public on all days during daylight hours. There is no fee for entering the park.

Types of Hawaii’s Exotic Fruits

There is an extremely wide range of Hawaii’s exotic fruits. Some of the more well-known ones you already know about probably. These include pineapple, papaya, mango, apple banana, passion fruit and guava. But Hawaii even has exotic fruits that you might have not heard of or seen at your grocer back home. Mountain apple, dragon fruit, lychee and star fruit are examples.

But amazingly, there are exotic fruits in Hawaii that even long-time residents might have never seen. These are fruits like poha, wi, strawberry guava and loquot. So if you have an opportunity to try Hawaii’s exotic fruits, you certainly must try to do so.

Poha

The poha or the cape gooseberry is low lying shrub producing a orange fruit the size of a cherry tomato. It’s related to the tomatillo. But unlike the tomatillo, it has a tart, sweet taste making it ideal for fruit salads, preserves and pies. You can also enjoy this berry by simply popping it straight into your mouth. The poha berry is high in phosphorus, vitamins A, B and C as well as healthful bioflavonoids. You can find a number of places in Hawaii that sell delicious poha jams or jellies. They are nice gifts to share with your relatives and friends back home.

The poha plant is native to South America but grows in places like England as well as in South Africa. Some speculate it got its cape gooseberry name because it grew at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. While others believe it got this name because the fruit is caped with a translucent leathery-looking covering. The first poha plant in Hawaii started growing on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1825. Today, a number of farmers grow poha. But you can also find it growing wild in many places throughout the State.

Strawberry Guava

This tree, a relative of the common guava, has been somewhat of a mixed blessing in Hawaii. The tree bears what some consider a nice tasting fruit. But many feel it is one of the most invasive trees ever introduced into in Aloha State. Imported in 1825 from Brazil, it grows in a dense and think manner overcoming all other plant life. As a result, this makes it difficult to eradicate.

On the other hand, many in Hawaii consider the fruit of strawberry guava tree very tasty. You can eat it raw, make it into juice or use it in preserves and desserts. Some also consider it an attractive ornamental species. While others prize its wood for use in smoking meats and fish.

Wi

Pronounced “vee,” the wi tree produces a fruit similar to the mango. Some claim it tastes like a combination of a mango and an apple. In other parts of the word, people call it an ambarella. People believe it came from French Polynesia.

Some say wi tastes best raw while the fruit is still firm. And at this stage, it can produce a refreshing juice. As in the case of the mango, one can make the wi fruit into jelly, relishes or a sauce for soups and stews. It is reportedly a good source of iron.

Loquot

This tree, which produces clusters of oval shaped fruits, was first cultivated in Asia. It is one of the most popular fruits in the world. People grow it throughout Asia, the Middle East, India, South America as well as in some parts of Europe. That being the case, it’s somewhat strange most will never see it in grocery stores in North America. Supposedly, the Chinese introduced loquot into Hawaii in the late 1700’s. Some refer to it as pipa in Chinese or biwa in Japanese. One can find it as a backyard plant in a number of Hawaii residences.

Mature loquat fruit is orange in color, sweet in taste and a good source of vitamin A. You can see it in farmers markets and outdoor fruit stands in Hawaii. It is also a popular with hotel chefs in Hawaii as a fresh fruit dish as well as an ingredient in various recipes.

The Amazing Hawaiian Hoary Bat

Many visitors to Hawaii will find the Aloha State offers many wonderfully unique things to see as well as experience. And if they are lucky, they might be able to see the rare Hawaiian hoary bat or ope’ape’a. Ope’ape’a means half-leaf in Hawaiian. This name refers to the shape of the bat’s body which resembles half of a taro leaf.

Hawaiian Only Endemic Land Mammal

This rarely seen animal is Hawaii’s only endemic land mammal. This means one cannot find it anywhere else in the world. It is only one of two endemic mammals in the state. The other is the Hawaiian monk seal. The Hawaiian hoary bat has been an endangered species since 1970. Hawaii recently designated it as its official State land mammal in 2015.

The ope’ape’a is a sub-specie of the hoary bat that lives on the American continents. But unlike its mainland cousin, scientists know very little about the Hawaiian hoary bat. Recent DNA sequencing evidence reveals that the bat’s ancestors came from the Pacific coast of North America. They came in two separate waves, 9,000 years apart.

The ope’ape’a’s diet consists of insects which they hunt for only during nights. It can eat up to 40% of its weight in bugs in a single night. The typical ope’ape’a weighs about half an ounce and has wingspans ranging from 10.5 to 13.5 inches.

How it Came to Hawaii

It is Hawaii’s only endemic land mammal. But the ope’ape’a is also remarkable in that its ancestors had to fly at least 2,300 miles from North America to get here. This would make it the known longest migration for any type of bat. Scientists believe the Hawaiian hoary bat’s ancestors would have had the capability of flying such distances. This would be achievable, particularly if strong storm winds aided them over the Pacific Ocean.

Where It Lives Today

Fossil records indicate the ope’ape’a once lived on all of the main Hawaiian Islands, except for Kahoolawe and Niihau. But today, one can mainly see them on Kauai, Maui and on the Big Island of Hawaii. On the Big Island, there are less sightings of the ope’ape’a along the coasts during the months of January through April. This suggests that they are migrating to the higher elevations on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. This is where the bats can enjoy cooler temperatures. In turn, this allows them to lower their metabolic rates while resting. The ope’ape’a small size and few number of sightings make these bats very difficult to study. So it is unknown whether the population of the ope’ape’a are increasing or decreasing.

The Storied Tradition of Our Hawaiian Cowboys

Many outside of Hawaii are probably unaware of its rich cowboy and ranching traditions. Students of history should take note Hawaii had such traditions well before the American West actually had its own. The American West tradition began later in the mid-1800s. Here is the rich and storied history of the Hawaiian cowboys.

Hawaii’s ranching and cowboy history began in the Waimea area of the Big Island of Hawaii. It began sometime in in the late 1700 to early 1800 time frame. This was when British sea captain George Vancouver gave five long horned cattle to king Kamehameha as a gift. The cattle were not in good shape after a long sea journey. So Kamehameha made it kapu (off-limits) to harm or possess the cattle. He allowed them to roam as well as breed freely. But after two decades, the cattle had grown into thundering herds, often causing destruction and terror.

The Need for Hawaiian Cowboys

There was an urgent need to get these huge herds of wild cattle under control. Around 1815, King Kamehameha sought the help one of his haole (foreigner) advisors, John Palmer Parker. Parker was a gun owner and good marksman. He shot the cattle, salted their meat, tanned their hides and sold them to passing ships. Parker shot and killed many cattle. But he was wise to keep some of the best ones for his own ranch. Parker later married the granddaughter of King Kamehameha. In turn, this allowed him to acquire huge tracks of land to expand his ranching operations.

Reportedly, Parker hired Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) to work on his ranch in 1832. They were expert horsemen with plenty of cattle ranching experience. They also trained his Hawaiian ranch workers to become cowboys.

But others have another version of the story. Around the same time, King Kamehameha’s successor, Kamehameha III, was on a world tour. While on the tour, he became impressed with the skill of Mexican-Spanish vaqueros. As a result, he convinced the King of Spain send a number of them to Hawaii to train his people in ranching and horsemanship.

The Role of Parker Ranch

Perhaps it’s not as important whether it was Parker, Kamehameha III or both who brought the vaqueros to Hawaii. What is probably more important is that the vaqueros had significant impact on the Hawaiian economy back in the early to mid-1800s. It shaped the history of the Waimea and other areas where with large ranching operations in Hawaii. Partially because of the vaqueros’ training, Parker Ranch became the largest privately-owned ranch in America.

But the vaqueros had an even longer lasting influence on Hawaii’s culture and arts. These are traditions associated with the men whom the vaqueros trained and mentored. These are the Hawaiian cowboys or the paniolos. Under the vaqueros’ stewardship, the paniolos became outstanding horsemen and ranchers. They even shocked the world when paniolos from Parker Ranch won a world rodeo championship in 1908. It even included Ikua Purdy who was John Parker’s great-grandson. Since then, these men have been forever commemorated in Hawaiian history as the “Hawaii Roughriders.”

Paniolo Vs. Paniola

Depending on who you speak to, some refer to the Hawaiian cowboy as the paniola, rather than paniolo. The word paniola is said to come from the so-called Hawaiianization of the word Spanish word Española (someone from Spain). The word was apparently changed to paniolo to match the masculine form of words in Spanish. Most people today use the term paniolo to refer to Hawaiian cowboys. But some still prefer paniola as the word paniolo supposedly has some negative connotations.

Hawaiian Cowboys Today

In addition to mentoring Hawaiian men on horsemanship and ranching, the vaqueros shared their lifestyles and cultures with those whom they worked and lived with. This was particularly true in the areas of music, clothing and traditions. Such traditions were very influential among the paniolos and were passed onto future generations. Many Paniolo traditions still thrive to this very day. They include the slack key style of guitar playing and the wonderful accompanying songs written for this musical style.

Today’s Hawaiian formal dress still owes much to the influence of 19th century Spanish fashion. A man’s shirt that fits snugly around the waist, the accompanying sash, a woman’s puffed sleeves and train of the holoku flowing gown are of Spanish origins. The paniolo heritage is also readily apparent during major Hawaiian events, parades and festivals. One example in the case of the pa’u riders. These are women on horses ornately dressed in colorful flowing garments with both wearing beautiful leis.

Pa’u riders on parade.

For information on how to travel to Hawaii in the most inexpensive way possible, check out our Get to Hawaii website for a wide range of Hawaii vacation packages to Honolulu, Maui, Kona, Kauai, Molokai and Lanai.